Every year, one in ten adults in the United States become the victim of a scam or fraud. With the expansion of websites and technological advancements, the varieties of online fraud keep expanding. Here are some advice and tools to assist you protect yourself in determining if a website is legitimate or attempting to defraud you.
1 . Examine the URL and Address Bar Clearly
A secure website can be identified by a lock icon or a “s” in the URL, which must begin with “https://.” Check the page’s address bar (URL) to see if this is the case. Although it is not a guarantee, it does demonstrate that the site’s owner is utilizing safe encryption techniques to convey data and defend itself against hackers.
2.Look at the Contact Page
Specify how you want to reach the business. When there are few opportunities, act with care (phone, email, live chat, or physical address).
3 . Examine the Company’s Online Presence
The majority of reliable companies are present and active on social media. Look for social media icons on their website, verify that they actually link to a social media site, read client testimonials, and see if you can find actual company employees on LinkedIn.
4 . Verify the domain name twice
Scammers frequently create “similar” domain names, such as Yah00.com or Amaz0b.net, with subtle changes that you would not even notice in order to trick consumers into thinking they are on a reputable website. If you are not sure whether you have been routed to the correct website, check the address bar again.
5. Determine the Domain Age
Finding out how old a domain is on a website is simple. By looking at a website’s age, you may be more assured that it has been up and running for a given amount of time. Because they are discovered early and taken down by owners of actual business websites, scam and phony websites often only last a short time.
Use the domain tracker (https://leadmanagement.reviews/) to find out who registered a domain name, their location, and how long the website has been in existence.
6 . Beware of incorrect grammar and spelling
Websites for real companies will go to great lengths to look professional. A large number of spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors could be a sign that the website was established quickly. Website typos do happen from time to time, but a lot of them could be a sign of a malicious site.
7 . Check the Website Privacy Statement
Most websites are required by data privacy laws and regulations to inform visitors of the rules and procedures that govern the collection, use, protection, and storage of their personal data. Most websites provide a page or a link to a paper with in-depth information. Look for and thoroughly read this information before providing any information or making any online purchases.
8. Perform a virus scan
On some websites, you may see an occasional ad or pop-up, but excessive ad content that obstructs your ability to review the website or encourages you to click on links that take you to other websites could be a sign that the website is unsafe or a scam.
There are various free tools available to check for malware, infections, phishing, and well-known scam websites:
· Can It Be Hacked?
· VirusTotal
· PhishTank
· FTC Scam Warnings
9 . Check the site’s transparency with Google Safe Browser
You can paste a URL into a field on the Google Safe Browsing Transparency Report to get a report on how trustworthy that website is.
10 . Move on If It Appears to Good to Be True
Even though it’s typical for certain businesses to provide steep price cuts on products to move inventory or advertise a new good or service, if you come across a website that appears to be offering an exceptional deal, you should think twice before proceeding. Something is most likely not true if it seems too wonderful to be true.
11 . Research your topic
You may learn a lot about a firm by conducting a quick online search for customer reviews. Check the reviews’ recency and whether the business has responded proactively (where available.)